Mattress, poles and battery

As we used our CampInn, we discovered some thing that were uncomfortable, I abused, or were plain not up to it.
-First we replaced the mattress with one, a 4 incher just like the orginal, but that had some regular foam and and 1 1/2 of memory foam. Wow. Works great and we sleep well. We got ours at, dread, Wal-Mart. No place else could I find one.
-Next I broke the tips off the long poles of the side tent. Due to my misuse and honestly, not a very good tip. Got the new ones, so much better tip and cam action lockers, from CampMor. These have a tapered, extruded tip. If you use the originals, be sure to carry duct tape, just in case.
-Finally, I got the big battery, a 72 a/h flooded lead acid. That didn't last long, again due to my misuse probably, and replaced it with a Optimus AGM sealed battery with about 60 a/h. I've only just gotten it last year, so can't tell you about it, other than I feel better and seem to have plenty of power.

We love our tear, and like it or not, it does attract attention. Let's all say it, "Do you sleep in there?"

 

Yes -and the dog too!!
About the mattress -on our boat we added a 1 1/2 in foam memory topper and love it. We've wanted to add it to our teardrop, but Tim's size 13 feet wouldn't fit if we added another layer and he wanted to roll over. The mattress you got at the unnamable place -is it a camping mattress or ?? Where should I look to check it out -I get dizzy and lost in our store so a direction to be pointed in always helps!

 

We put a piece of 1" memory foam on top of our Camp-Inn mattress and are very happy so far. There are a lot of people talking about Walmart mattresses - here is a link to a rather long thread at the T&TTT forum:
Walmart Mattress Thread

About the battery, from what I have understood from Cary the larger battery is for customers who need a lot of juice - like a c-pap machine - but doesn't necessarily hold a charge longer. It just delivers more electricity at one time.

 

We have a 2009 Subaru Forester with cross bars and we put a short cargo box that we used on our previous tear on top to carry extra things. It seems to stay dry but we do not keep clothes in it just in case. I also put roof racks on the 560 and have bike carriers on them so we can take the bikes with us.

 

Yeah, I hear it every where I go" Do you sleep in there?"
Also, people say "Oh yeah I 've seen them before." Then when they look inside they admit to never having seen anything like it.

 

Because we're both very short we didn't want to have to put anything on top of the car or Raindrop, so we bought the Chrysler Town & Country Touring mini van with stow and go seats. We're retired and don't have the issues that so many younger people have with mini-vans. All the younger ones say "I'll NEVER buy a mini van." But convenience is everything to us and the tons of room makes it the right choice for us.

 

Hi Linda,
We had to buy one of those folding steps so I can reach the box also. Of course I had to forget it was beside the Forester the first time we used it and I ran it over. I'm glad it was plastic and it did no damage but to my reputation. LOL I got another one and it's been great ever since.
Bruce

 

Yeah, Bruce, folding steps are our lifesaver! In our long bed pickup that we had to tow the 5th wheel, we have a 3 step folding plastic step ladder so Bill could get in the back of the truck! And that was with the siderails to step on! Vertically challenged we are.... and don't worry about your reputation - a plastic step is nothing compared to kissing the side of a bridge like I did towing the 5th wheel on the way out of the parking lot, causing over $1,000's damage....that's why the Camp Inn is just right for us! I've towed lots of Uhaul trailers and they're nothing compared to that 33 ft. fifth wheel!

 

We had 'em install a hitch at the build and got a hitch mounted bike carrier so we carry them on the tear. We, also, have a Thule roof box that we sometimes use on the car, when the kayaks aren't on top.

 

I hear you there Linda, A long time ago I had a passion for trees LOL

 

Oh yeah? Well my passion extended from bridges to filling station overhangs....

 

Linda,
Another great feature with the Raindrop, You'll have a hard time hitting anything that is up high. lol but all other things are still fair game
You will love the 560 for sure though!!!
Bruce

 

We added 1" of memory foam to the top of the standard 4" mattress. This is fine for us. I don't think you would want to go much higher than this unless you have very small feet or are very short. An 8" mattress would fit under the cabinets but your feet wouldn't - 6" is probably the very max for normal size people.

You must have a very high quality air mattress. We used to tent camp with a cheap coleman air mattress that had to be repumped every day. I think one advantage of a teardrop over tent camping having a bed that doesn't ever need set up.

 

You may want to ask Cary about how a queen air mattress would fit in the trailer, as I think the size may be an inch or two smaller than a true queen. If it won't work, there must be a good 4" to 6" mattress out there.

 

I think it was in the department with sheets and pillow cases. I often suffer an out-of-body experience when I go in. But, yeah, I think that was it. There were other "toppers" there, and, again, this was 2 1/2" of foam bonded to 1 1/2" of memory foam, so the total height is the same, 4". And it is quite comfortable.

 

We got a 2 1/2" memory foam mattress topper($99 at Sam's Club) and added it to stock mattress for our camper. Unbelievable! I slept really well...love it! The only draw back is that I think it adds a lot of weight to the camper.

 

What about your feet? Do they still fit under? (if so, this would be a good time to let us know if you are both midgets).

 

No problem with the feet fitting under cause I usually sleep on my side. Once I sink into the memory foam my feet do fit though. For the record I am 6ft 1inches tall, 181 lbs, size 13 feet. Bernice is not a midget either,but she won't let me put her specs on the forum.
But the memory foam made a huge difference for us. I don't know if it really matters how thick the memory foam is for comfort. It is a great product.
Charlie